Event highlights for the week of January 31, 2018.
Green Fix
Guided Elephant Seal Walks
Overflowing in their own floppy blubber, elephant seals have a rather unfortunate-looking nose and are quite territorial. After migrating as far as 13,000 miles, they relax at the beach and make farting noises to make sure everyone knows they are there. Is it a 5,000-pound mammal, or an annoying 5-year-old? Like both, they aren’t as docile as you’d think and are best observed from a distance. Guided walks are around three miles and about 2.5 hours long, with frequent stops.
INFO: Walks begin daily at 8:45 a.m. and continue every 15 minutes through 2:45 p.m. Available through Saturday, March 31. Año Nuevo State Park, 1 New Years Creek Road, Pescadero. 650-879-2025. reservecalifornia.com. Vehicle fee is $10, $7 per person. Reservations are also available for a $3.99 reservation fee.
Art Seen
Scott Wells At Motion Pacific
Scott Wells is a Santa Cruz favorite. A contact improvisation specialist, he is a two-time winner of the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Choreography and former Santa Cruz native. On Saturday, his company Scott Wells & Dancers presents a 30-minute quartet “Was That Good for You?” with Kathleen Hermsdorf. The piece is inspired by the 25th anniversary of Wells and Hermesdorf dance partnership, and is an ode to the struggle to make a career out of dance in light of his company’s recent eviction. Wells will be spending a week in residency at Motion Pacific developing an additional two pieces.
INFO: 8-10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3. Motion Pacific Dance, 131 Front St. #E, Santa Cruz. 457-1616. motionpacific.com. $18-$25.
Saturday 2/3
Night of the Living Composers
Composers are people too—just ask these living, breathing, tax-paying ones! Better yet, check out Cabrillo College’s panel featuring seven local composers, including Susan Alexjander and Philip Collins, who will talk about their pieces and livelihood, and take questions from the audience. The composers will then perform, which is a way better finale than the one at the less-popular event “Night of the Living Dead Composers,” where the panelists just eat the audience.
INFO: 6 p.m. discussion, 7:30 p.m. show. Cabrillo College Samper Recital Hall, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos. 425-3526. newmusicworks.org. General admission $25/$28, senior admission $20/$23, students $10/$13. Tickets at cabrillovapa.com/tickets.
Saturday 2/3-Tuesday 3/1
Our Community Reads
Trevor Noah’s New York Times bestseller Born a Crime tells a harrowing story of South African life under apartheid and follows Noah’s journey to “The Daily Show.” The Aptos Library’s “Our Community Reads” program features more than 15 events from film series’ to art shows and book discussions around Noah’s recollection, while including a larger scope of diversity and racial biases in Santa Cruz. If you are interested in talking more about the book, Judy McNeely leads an Aptos Library group discussion on Feb. 8 at 1 p.m. All of the events are free and open to the public.
INFO: Event times, dates and locations vary, check friendsofaptoslibrary.org for listings, email fr**********************@fs***.org, or call 427-7702.
Wednesday 1/31, Thursday 2/1, Monday 2/5
Informational Legal Cannabis Meetings
Want to know more about how the new cannabis laws affect you, and Santa Cruz more largely? Santa Cruz County is hosting three public meetings to discuss legalized cannabis cultivation and manufacturing in Santa Cruz County. The first two meetings are informational presentations with opportunity for questions. The Board meeting, in which County staff will present its suggestions for the county’s new cultivation and manufacturing ordinance, will have a formal public comment section.
INFO: 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 31. Governmental Building, 701 Ocean St., Santa Cruz, 5th Floor Board Chambers. 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1. Felton Community Hall, 6191 Hwy. 9, Felton. 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 5. The Board of Supervisors, 701 Ocean St., Room 500, Santa Cruz.
